Good morning. Let's all stand together and sing hymn number 452. 452. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned and clean. How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be. How marvelous! How wonderful! is my Savior's love for me.

For me it was in the garden He prayed, not my will but Thine. He had no tears for His own griefs, but sweat drops of blood for mine. How marvelous How wonderful and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. In wonder, in wonder angels beheld him. and came from the world of light. To comfort him in the sorrows he bore for my soul that night. How marvelous! How wonderful! and my song shall ever be.

How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. He took my sins and my sorrows He made them His very own He bore the burden to carry and suffered and died alone. How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be. How marvelous! How wonderful! is my Savior's love for me. When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see, t'will be my joy through the ages, to sing of his love for me. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful, It's my Savior's love for me. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number 511. 511.

Face to face with Christ my Savior, face to face what will it be? When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me. Face to face I shall behold Him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all His glory I shall see Him by and by Only faintly now I see Him, With the darkling veil between. But a blessed day is coming, With His glory shall Face to face I shall behold Him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all His glory I shall see Him by and by What rejoicing in His presence, When our banished grief and pain, When the crooked ways are straightened, And the dark things shall be flamed, Face to face I shall behold him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by Face to face, O blissful moment, face to face to see and know. Face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who loves me so. Face to face I shall behold Him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face in all His glory I shall see Him by and by Luke chapter three.

You know, if you don't see him here by faith, if you don't see Christ here by faith now, and see some of his glory, don't see much of it, we see some of it, you certainly won't see it in the by and by if you don't see it here, if you don't see it by faith. Let me start reading Verse 4 down to verse 14. As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias, the prophet, which is Isaiah, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight. and the rough ways be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come, bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father, For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.

And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered and saith unto them, He that hath two coats let him impart to him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, exact no more than that which is appointed unto you. And then the soldiers, and the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, What shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages.

Our great, glorious, blessed God of heaven and earth, Lord, as you said in your word, let our words be few and be not rash with our mouth when we come into your presence. But Lord, we want to come in the blessed, glorious, strong, precious name of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that you said, this is my beloved son and whom I'm well pleased Your blessed son to say, hear ye him. And so we come here to hear his voice today. We want to hear his voice in the gospel. We want to hear the voice in his word. We want to hear his voice through the preaching of the word.

Lord, we come here to worship him, to bow our hearts before him, to acknowledge him, to acknowledge him to be our all in all. our only hope, our only salvation, the only righteousness we ever have in this world, and the only righteousness we'll have in the world to come. Oh, we come and thank you, Lord. Bless your holy name. And Father, now we pray for this gospel to run well here today. Oh, may it run well. May it bring forth fruit to your glory.

And our Father, we Pray again for our brothers and sisters who right now have a, you said, be in bonds with them as those who have affliction. And Lord, we have brothers and sisters who can't be with us because of the weakness and frailness of their bodies. Pray for Doc, pray for Janie, pray for Rick, pray for Helen, and for those among us here even now whose bodies are weak, who have ailments, Lord, that only you can give us grace to bear them, only you can uphold us through them. And, Lord, we ask again, oh, Lord, on behalf of our children and our grandchildren, oh, Lord, there's no hope for them if you don't do something for them.

They love this world, and they love everything that's in this world, this world that's full of lust and pride and ambition and honor and seek the glory for itself and its flesh. Oh, God, have mercy on him. Please, for Christ's sake, send the Holy Spirit, convince him of their need. And Lord, for those in this service today, may that good, good seed of the word of God be sown in a heart and may salvation be brought today to a heart for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's all stand together and sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin.

To thee, my shepherd and my lord, a grateful song I'll raise. Let all thy chosen ransomed flock Attempt to sing thy praise Attempt to sing thy praise Vainly attempt what tongue can speak A subject so divine Do justice to Sylvester theme, And praise a love like thine. And praise a love like thine. Love that could bring thy willing feet From that blessed world on high. From thy great Father's dear embrace To suffer, bleed, and die To suffer, bleed, and die My life, my joy, my hope I owe To this amazing love Ten thousand thousand comforts here and nobler bliss above.

And nobler bliss above. Be seated. Place up Marlene. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you I hope you're still in Luke 3. I want to talk about fruit of repentance. Fruit of repentance. John said, bring forth fruit, meat for repentance. That word means fit. Meat means fit. Fit for repentance. are able to repent.

And our Lord Jesus, when he testified of John, he said, there's no greater prophet born among women than John the Baptist. None. None. He said, the only person that'll be greater in the kingdom of heaven will be he that's the least, the least. And John was the forerunner for our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we have a forerunner that's entered into heaven for us, the Lord Jesus Christ. And a forerunner goes and tells that there's somebody else coming after me, telling about somebody coming. No, and our Lord Jesus Christ is our forerunner in Hebrews 6, who's entered into the presence of God for us and there's a whole bunch coming after me. I'm telling you, I'm here as a forerunner for a multitude that no man can number. And so John was a forerunner. He was the herald of the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming.

And he came to prepare the way of the Lord. And what that means is he came to make it plain, make it plain to who was coming. And the Jews were looking for Christ to come. They were looking for Him. It was time for Him to come, according to the to the book of Daniel and different things in the scriptures, time for him to come. And they were looking for him to come. That's why they asked John whether he was the Christ or not. And I tell you what, and then he told them what he would do when he did come. He told them what he would do when he did come.

And the Jews who heard John are left, I'm telling you, they're left without excuse for rejecting their Messiah. But even our Lord Jesus said, you know, He came unto His own, but His own believed Him not. He was a light in darkness, but the darkness didn't see it. Darkness didn't see. And John's ministry had a character to it, as do all true ministers called of God to preach the gospel. First thing I want you to know about John, look how bold he was.

Look what he said in verse 7. Then he said to the multitudes that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come, bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. Say not within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid under the root of the trees. Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." Now I tell you, you're talking about a man that has some boldness to him.

They came to be baptized. What if somebody come up here to be baptized to me and I said, no, I'm not going to do it. You're a viper. You're a snake, your father's the devil. You're that old serpent, Satan, the slew foot. What if I said something like that to somebody? I show up next Sunday morning, there'd be hardly nobody here.

Oh my, what did he say to them? Oh, generation of vipers. You know, that's what our Lord Jesus called us. You know why he called them vipers? He called them vipers just like he told the Jews, you're of your father the devil. Said, no, no, we're children of Abraham. No, you're of your father the devil, and the deeds of your father you're going to do.

And these men, this viper is, is that they had poison. Poison in them. Poison of pride and self-righteousness. Hatred for God, hatred for his word, hatred for Christ. That's why he called them vipers. They had ability to kill men with their words. And they eventually killed Christ. And they sought all the way. That's why he called them vipers. And a viper is a very deadly thing. And there's nothing more deadly to a soul than self-righteousness and pride. What more deadly to a soul? There's this young ruler come to our Lord Jesus one time and said, good master, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life? What good, what can I do?

Our Lord looked at him and said, keep all the commandments. He said, oh, I did this. I've been doing this since I was a little boy. He said, well, I'll tell you what. He said, I'm going to get you right where you live. I'm gonna get you right where you live, where your heart's at. I'm gonna get you where your heart's at, I'm gonna get you right where you live. Sell, he's a very rich man, he says, sell everything you got, give it all to the poor.

Oh, I can't do that, I can't do that. Can't do that. And that's why he called him that. And he didn't baptize him. Oh no, he didn't baptize him. No, he didn't. He saw the rottenness He saw the hypocrisy of their profession. And popularity wasn't his aim. Popularity wasn't his aim. He didn't care who was offended. He knew these men, and he knew what they were. He knew exactly what they were. He said, beware when all men speak well of you, when all speak well of you.

And that's why Paul said, let me ask you this, he said, do we persuade God or do we persuade men? Most people think that they're trying to persuade God to do something for man, but oh, listen, Paul said, if I please men, am I persuading God or persuading men? He said, if I yet seek to please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Should not be the servant of Christ.

I heard a message here recently, I told somebody about it. Brother Henry Mahan preached a message on they hated me without a cause. I've heard him preach countless, countless, countless, countless times, but I never heard him stirred up as much as he was over that they hated me without a cause. Never heard him preach like that before. Heard him preach a lot, but he was stirred up with this hatred that men had for Christ. And that's why he said, oh, you generation, vipers. I see how deadly you are. I see how rotten you are. I see all your hypocrisy. I see it. And oh, look what else he said here. Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Who warned you? Who told you that God was a God of wrath? How did you understand that God was a God of wrath? Who told you to come here? What's the reason that you come here?

Did you come to escape God's wrath by being baptized of me? Who told you that this is the way of escaping from the wrath of God by just being baptized? Who told you that this is the way to escape God's vengeance by just being baptized? Especially baptized of me. What makes you think, who told you that this is the way to get away from God's wrath? For me to baptize you in Jordan. Who warned you about this? Who told you about this? You come here just to escape from hell? You come here to escape from the wrath of God? Is that the only reason you come here to be baptized to me? And that's what most people make a profession for. They'd rather escape hell. Nobody wants to go to hell. But yet, these men thought that this is the way I can escape.

God won't be mad at me. You know why I won't have some preacher baptize me? And I'll be all right. And I tell you what, I want him to give me a certificate telling me the day he baptized me so I can put it in a frame and put it on my wall. I want people to understand what I went through. I want people to understand I'm all right. You know how many multitudes there are that does that? Oh, my. Oh, my. And then, oh, my goodness.

Then look what else he said. Bring forth fruit, therefore, worthy of repentance. And look what he said here now. He said, don't say we're Abraham. Don't begin to say within yourselves. For I say unto you that God is able these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. There's a bunch of rocks around there, stones. And here's what people do.

They said, don't say within yourselves. Don't look, the last place you ought to look at self is yourself. Don't never look within, but that's what they, don't thank within. Don't start thanking within. You listen to what I've got to say. He said, don't thank within. Don't thank within yourselves at you. by blood are going to be saved from the wrath to come. Don't think just because you're Abraham's seed and you're Abraham's children by blood that this is going to escape you from the wrath to come. Because I tell you what, you think within yourself, you think you're somebody. I hear people say all the time, I'm as good as anybody else. That don't mean anything. When nobody's any good, You don't compare ourselves among ourselves.

And I tell you, he said, God is able of these stones. And then he gives us some descriptions. He gives us some descriptions of the work of the Holy Spirit in a man's heart and what he does preparing for the coming of Christ. He talks about an axe in verse 9. He talks about a fire in verse 9 and also in verse 17. And he talks about a fan in verse 17. He talks about a fan.

And oh, look what he says now. Oh, don't say we have Abraham, dire father. Don't you dare say, you know, because we're by blood. And that's what most speak. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ, He told the Jews, he says, know ye the truth and the truth will set you free. They backed up and said, now wait a minute. We've never been in any bondage. Are we not in bondage? They were Abraham's children. And you know what our Lord said to them? He said, if you were Abraham's children, you'd do his works. What did Abraham do?

He believed God. What did he do when God said, go out? He went out. What did he do when he went out? He dwelt in a tent. He believed the most unbelievable things that you could have possibly imagined. He said, look at the sand down here on this desert. I've got more children in them sand. Look up at the stars. See them stars? I got more children than the stars in heaven, and you're going to be the daddy of every one of them. Now, you blame, what if God took you out and told you that? He said, well, I believe him. I believe him. But oh, look what he says now. And now also, verse 9, now also the ax is laid to the root of the tree.

Where did he lay the axe? He didn't start with the limbs. He didn't start trimming it. He didn't try and say, well, I'll trim up my life. I'll trim it up, and I'll make it look good. I'll trim up my life. I'll change my life. I'll change my lifestyle. I'll change the way I dress. I'll change the way I believe. I'll change a lot of things. I'll just, you know. But no, no, he didn't say, I'm going to trim the tree. He said, I'm going to take this axe. I'm going to go right to the root. I'm going to go right down to the root. I'm going to get that root and I'm going to kill it from the ground up. You know why he said that?

Because that's where our problem's at. It's the root of sin. You know why we do what we do? Because we are what we are. A man sins because he's a sinner. And that's where the problem lies. It lies in the heart. It lies in the root. And preachers are all time trying to trim the trees. And God said, that's the root. That's the problem. It's the heart. That's the problem. It's with the problem has to do with your nature.

Well, how in the world am I going to do about what am I going to do about my nature? God's got to give you a new one. Well, how's he going to give you a new one? He got to kill that root first. He's got to take an axe to you. He's got to kill it. He's got to kill it. He's got to kill your hope and false hopes. He's got to kill your false refuges. He's got to kill your ideas of who God is. People say, oh, God's like me. No, he's not. Never has been. And oh, God said, I've got to take an axe to him. I've got to take an axe to him.

They are so hard, and their root is so rotten, their root is so corrupt that they got poison. Listen, they're rotten to the core. They're like a grave. He said, I've got to take an ax to the root of the tree, and I'm going to kill that tree. He got to kill that tree. Oh, he's got to kill it. He ain't trying to trim it.

That's what preachers want people to do. Trim up, trim up, trim up. Years and years and years. Oh my goodness, when I was in my very, very early 20s and late teens, I had real, real long hair and a long beard. And people always tell me, said, boy, God save you if you'd clean up. My hair had nothing to do with it. My beard had nothing to do with it. But that's what people think. Clean up your act, and God will save you. You ain't got no act but sin. And God, clean up your act all you want to, but your act's not your problem. It's your heart that's the problem. He said, I've got to take an act, and I've got to just keep cutting. And I'll tell you what, I'm going to cut you down. I'm going to cut you down. Listen, God's got to cut us down. He got to cut us down to where we ain't got nothing left but Him.

And just peep laying the root to the tree. Then, oh my, look what, oh, listen. And you know the root's what's out of sight. The root's what's out of sight. You can't see it. But God knows it. God knows where it's at. And oh my. And then all the men are going to be shocked when they're cast down. Look what he says. And the axe is laid under the root of the trees, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit. And look what it says. He's cut down, hewn down. What does he do with it when he cuts it down? Throws it in the fire. You don't bring forth fruit, do you know? He said, I'm going to throw you in the fire. I'm going to throw you in the fire. That's what I'm going to do.

There's a bunch come to Christ and said, oh, Lord, we've done all these many wonderful. We've been preaching. We've been praying. We've been witnessing. We've been doing many wonderful works in you. We've been casting out devils. We've been doing all kinds of things. And you know what our Lord said to them?

Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. awfulest four words you'll ever hear from the voice of Christ. You know what it is? Depart from me. Depart from me. I never knew you. Huh? Oh my. And then all of them probably. Now look what else happens here now. And the people ask him. Here come the Pharisees and the rabbis. That's who these were. It says it over in Matthew 3 that that's who these were. It describes the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

And the people ask him now, what shall we do? What shall we do? Now, there's three different times from three different classes and types of people that ask him, what shall we do? What shall we do? What shall we do? How are we going to escape the wrath to come? How are we going to do it?

And look what he says here now. He answers, saith unto them, he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none, he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Now let's talk a little bit about this thing of repentance. He told them to repent, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Now what does it mean to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance? What is repentance?

Well, I've told you time and time again, it's a change of mind. Mind and heart's the same thing. You know, and when God changes your mind, what he does, he starts working on your understanding. And as he works on your understanding, your understanding starts saying, well, listen, he's showing me that from the Bible. And next thing you know, your mind starts changing about what you think about God, what you think about yourself, what you think about the Bible, what you think about Christ, and especially what you think about sin. And not only is it a change of mind, that's what repentance is, but it's also a change of emotion. Your mind can't change without your emotions changes. If God changes your mind and makes you understand who God is, you cannot be saved without knowing who God is. He's sovereign. He's got all power in heaven and earth. And he gives eternal life to whom he will.

He said, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. Salvation's up to me. And then he turned around and said, now listen, I'm going to give everything into the hands of my son and I'm going to let, he's going to be the one that's going to give this life.

And so your emotions, oh my goodness, you know, when you, your mind changes of everything that you've ever, you know, you catch, Paul says, you know, I was a Pharisee. I was a Jew. I was a righteousness after the law, I was the finest fellow you ever looked at. He said, but you know what, I count everything that I ever believed in and hoped in and trusted in, I counted but lost, I counted but dug, I counted for garbage.

For one reason, that I might know Christ, that I may win Christ, that I may be found in Christ. And I tell you what, whenever you get to that place, your emotion says, listen, He's right. And then when that motion starts changing, then that heart starts breaking. Tears start flowing. And repentance starts saying, oh, Lord, how could I have ever believed such a thing?

How could I have ever had a hope in such a thing? How could I have ever come to such conclusions about myself? How could I have ever thought that I was anybody when I'm nothing? How could I ever thought that I had a righteousness when I was filthy rags? How could I have done that?

Oh, my. All right. And all these three types of people came to him. And he says this, what shall we do since you said that we have to repent and all you've told us all these things that you've already said? And the first thing he tells them, if you've repented, If you're repentant, then you don't trust in things anymore. You don't trust in your clothes. You don't trust in your luxuries. You don't trust in the things that you possess.

If you have two coats, you see somebody without one, I'm going to give him one of mine. And not I'm going to give him one of mine. I'm going to give him the best one I've got. I'll keep the sorry ones when I give him the best. Oh, my. Oh, and look what he said. And then somebody that ain't got nothing to eat? I tell you what, I'm going to take him some food. I'm going to see that he's fed. I'm going to see that he has got something to eat. I'll go to the grocery store and buy him a bill of groceries, and I'll make sure that he's got something to eat. That's what he's saying here.

Now, I tell you, he didn't give them ceremonies to go to. He didn't tell them to go to the law. He didn't say be generous or be kind. Oh, he didn't say pray through. You need to pray through. Or I see people hear this all the time. Boy, I prayed really hard. How do you do that? How do you do that? How do you pray hard? All these religious cliches that men and women's come up with is just Boy, I tell you what, I wish y'all would pray hard with me over this. Pray hard? How do you pray hard? How ridiculous religion's got. The statements they make, the things they cling to. I say things that I... But it just, you know, what are you going to say? And then look what happens then. Look what he says now. That's the people. That's the people that said that. Then here comes some publicans. Some publicans.

The publicans is the worst people that there was in that society. They was the people that collected taxes for the Roman Empire. And all the publicans came to be baptized. And you know the publicans as well meant, your Master East was publicans and sinners. It was a publicans that justified God, justified Christ. It was a publican that was called down out of the trees, Zacchaeus. And so these publicans, they are the worst sort of people.

They were tax collators. And look what he said to Swartz. The publicans came to be baptized of him, verse 12, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? He said, bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. We know if we've repented, what should we do? What's the fruit that shows us that we have repentance?

He said, well, I'll tell you what, when you collect taxes, you be as honest as you possibly can. Don't you dare, don't you dare take one extra penny off of anybody. Don't you exact no more, don't you extortion anybody out of any money. That's why Zacchaeus, when he was called out of the tree, said, if I've stole anything from anybody, I'm gonna restore it fourfold. He'd already admitted it, I'm wrong. I've been using my tax, I've been putting the scales, I've been putting my finger on the scales. And oh my, don't ask anything for yourself. You get no more than what a person is supposed to pay. He's act no more. Don't ask anything for yourself. Don't be a thief. Be honest. Don't covet. Don't use your position to better yourself. The love of money is the root of all evil. And you know, you know how many people money perverts judgment.

God said that. He says, you know, how would you like to face a judge, and you had everything on your side. You is going to win this thing. And then somebody comes along and says, listen, judge, I've got $10,000 here that if you'll do things my way, my way, and let these other folks don't do, bribe them, what would you think about standing? He ought to be put in jail, shouldn't he? That's what he said, don't you, don't you dare, don't you dare take a bribe from anybody to get more money.

Or be honest, be honest, be honest. And then came the soldiers. Then came some soldiers. Exact no more that's appointed unto you. Don't do that. Don't take any more than that's right. And that's, you know, I really believe this with all my heart. I really do. I believe this. Paul said, provide all things honest in the sight of men.

I'd rather give a feller a dollar than beat him out of a dime. You know, if you just as well still a hundred dollars is still a dime. is still being a thief. That's why he said, don't you take no more than what's due you. And as you know, it's coming up on tax time. Some of you may have done it. You don't want to give them any more than they're supposed to have, do you? No. I don't want to give them anything if I could have it. And I'll tell you the truth. They just gonna throw it in a rat hole.

But now look, he talked to the soldiers. Look what he said about the soldiers. And the soldiers, here come some soldiers to be baptized of him. Army men, soldiers, people with uniforms on. And the soldiers, they come and they said, oh, listen, what, say, John, What shall we do? We're soldiers. We've got a responsibility. We've got commanders over us. What are we going to do? What are we going to do?

And the first thing he said, do no violence to men. And you know, in the margin, it says don't put nobody in fear. Soldiers. Don't put people in fear. Just because you got the authority, just because you got the power, just because you got that uniform, don't use it to scare people. Don't use it to frighten people. Don't use it to make yourself stronger and with more authority than you ought to have.

And then look what he says now. Oh, don't be violent toward him because you got authority. And look what he says. And don't lie on anybody. Don't you falsely accuse somebody just so that you can prosecute them, just so you can say that I make your superiors look, boy, listen, this guy's really on the ball here, make herself look better.

I'll get a promotion. Oh, listen, instead of having two stripes, I'm going to get the third one. When I accuse this fellow here, they're going to make me a sergeant instead of private. Going to make me somebody. Don't lie, old man, that's what he said.

Make yourself appear good to your superiors. And then he says, and be content, be content with your wages. Be content with what they pay you. Be content with it. You hired on, you come and said, y'all want to be a soldier? Well, this is what they're going to pay you. It's what they're going to pay you. It's what they're going to pay you. You be content with it. That's what repentance is. See how much they all changed? He told them just the simplest thing. But here's the thing about it.

They asked. And they asked Peter one day when he preached on the day of Pentecost. They asked him, he said, when he started preaching, they hollered and said, men and brethren, what must we do? First thing Peter said to him, repent. Repent. Because they had already heard things they'd never heard before. They heard something that they'd all been religious, they'd all been through the feast, they all understood that. But oh my, he said, the first thing you do is repent. Oh, listen, and I'll tell you what, how did they know that then? Because they said, what shall we do? What are we going to do?

God's against us. He's angry right now. He's found out our hearts. He's found out our sin. He's found out how rotten our hearts are. He's found out how selfish we are. He's found out how covetous we are. He's found out how proud we are. He's found out how religious we are. And it's amounted to nothing. So what are we going to do? He says, repent and then be baptized.

You know, I got to quit, but there was a man riding in his chariot, a real wealthy man. He'd been up to Jerusalem. He drove over 1,500, 1,450 miles from Ethiopia to go to Jerusalem because that was the place where they said that's where God was. So up there he went. Well, he come back. Riding in a chariot, riding in his coach. Fella driving for him, no doubt, because he is a wealthy, wealthy man. He could afford a Bible. He could afford a scroll.

You know, they have scrolls. Back then, they had scrolls. They didn't have a book like this here. They had scrolls. Isaiah had a different scroll. The first five books of Moses, different scrolls. They had these scrolls. And here's sitting there reading in this scroll. Here's reading from Isaiah 53.

Said he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before his shears was dumb, he answered not a word. And he, Philip, the Lord said, go join yourself to that chariot. He went and joined himself to that chariot, and he seen that man read. He said, do you understand what you're reading? He said, how can I? Except some man guide me. He jumped up there, and he started reading where he was reading at. And he took that. And he began to preach unto him the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the Son of God. This man that you know, this man that was crucified is the Son of God. He's God manifest in the flesh. Sinless man, a perfect man, a holy man, a righteous man, a man that sits right now at the right hand of God. And he started preaching unto him, crying, he's the lamb that was led to the slaughter. Let's talk about, he said, is this man talking about himself or some other man? And he began to preach Christ. And then they came to a body of water.

And he said, here's water, what hinders me from being baptized? You know what he said? If you believe with all your heart, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you may. Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Get in the water. And you know what the scripture says?

He went on his way rejoicing. That's what I mean. When God changes your mind, he changes your emotion too. His mind was changed when he heard Christ and his emotions were changed. He began to rejoice. You wonder why I get so full of joy sometimes when I'm preaching. It's something to make you joyful, ain't it? Something to make you joyful.

Oh, our blessed, blessed, blessed Savior, thank you for your word. Thank you for the truth. Oh, how blessed, oh, how blessed are you. How blessed we are that you'd bless us with your word. Oh, Lord, this, these truths are so precious to us. Make them precious to others. Make them powerful to others. And Lord, bring glory to yourself. Bless these dear saints. Do it for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. See you Wednesday night. We're going to have a dinner here next Sunday. Been a while since we had one. See you Wednesday.